Pirates signed infielder Jose Hernandez to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

Hernandez, a favorite of Jim Tracy's, figures to be the Pirates' 25th man once again. He hit .267/.328/.350 in 120 at-bats last season before the Pirates traded him to the Phillies in August. Mon, Jan 8, 2007 08:53:00 PM

Infielder Jose Hernandez will return to the Pirates on a minor league deal.

Hernandez hit .267/.328/.350 in 120 at-bats before the Pirates traded him to the Phillies in August. The team doesn't have a left-handed hitter to platoon him with, so he's not a great fit. Still, as a 25th man, he's adequate.

Jose Hernandez delivered a pinch-hit grand slam off Sean Marshall in Monday's loss to the Cubs.

When Hernandez was acquired last month, we assumed he'd take over as the Phillies' third baseman against lefties. Manager Charlie Manuel, though, has stuck with Abraham Nunez as an everyday player, even though Nunez has always been pathetic against southpaws and is hitting .149 against them this year. Hernandez is at .295 in 61 at-bats.

The Phillies had a Hernandez-type player earlier this year, but Alex Gonzalez had to go and retire on them. Hernandez was hitting just .267/.328/.350 for the Pirates, but he was solid against lefties, as usual. Abraham Nunez has always been better -- well, less bad -- against righties, so the Phillies will probably set up a platoon at third base.

Jose Hernandez delivered a two-out, walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning off Giants reliever Steve Kline on Sunday.

Armando Benitez blew a save by giving up a solo blast to Jose Castillo in the ninth, thus starting the Giants' woes for the day. In the 10th, Jack Wilson singled off Kline to start the inning, then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. After Jason Bay lined out, the Giants decided to intentionally walk Joe Randa to get to Hernandez with two outs. The right-hander responded by singling to left to end the game.

Hernandez secured a job by hitting .295/.319/.409 in 44 at-bats this spring. He shouldn't have any fantasy value as the Pirates' sixth infielder. Freddy Sanchez will get the starts that don't go to the regulars.

Depth Charts

Chris Stewart (hamstring) is expected to be sidelined for at least the next two weeks.

Which means he's in danger of opening the regular season on the disabled list. Stewart's hamstring injury was initially described as a minor tweak, but it's clearly more severe than that. The 33-year-old catcher hasn't appeared in a Grapefruit League game since last Monday. Tony Sanchez may get to serve as Francisco Cervelli's backup in the early going this season.

Jaff Decker told reporters Monday morning that his left calf is "feeling a lot better."

Decker tweaked the calf Sunday in a Grapefruit League game when his cleats got caught while he was leaving the batter's box. He had to be helped off the field, but this doesn't sound like a major injury.

Dr. James Andrews performed the procedure, which typically comes with a 12-15 month recovery timetable. Cumpton will miss the entire 2015 season and he's probably not going to be back to 100 percent by the beginning of the 2016 campaign. The 26-year-old right-hander had been fighting for a long relief job this spring in Pirates camp.